Buying Tips – Step 3: Making an Offer or Bid

Now you’re armed lots of knowledge of the item, and roughly what its worth, you can make an offer or place a bid. Each forum has its own rules and etiquette on how to proceed with an offer. Some insist on all communication on thread (e.g. AVforums), other prefer it via Private Message (PM) (e.g. HiFi Wigwam), where as many classified sites give you an email address or phone number. eBay items will either be an auction or Buy-It-Now.

To Barter Or Not?
Offering a lower price than asked is perfectly reasonable thing to do on forums and classifieds (and eBay listing with Buy-It-Now or Best Offer), the seller may merely refuse or counter offer. Rare, sought after items gaining lots of attention may garner numerous offers from many people, leaving the seller to choose the highest.

Importantly, if you do make a lower offer and it is accepted by the seller, its bad etiquette to then pull out and not complete the sale.

If you barter and agree a lower price, its bad etiquette to then try and barter further when collecting and paying. You agreed a price – stick to it! The exception to this, is if you later discover an issue or damage to the item, that you weren’t away of when making your first offer.